Some of the usual suspects don't care much about facts OPB? We're just off to starting the new year with the usual pot stirring and mouse droppings on the SMART issue?

I've dealt with right of way retention issues for transit development and for freight railbanking, and the reality is that most of these small segments aren't that viable. They come with a package deal for the segments that folks want or need, and they are generally sold off as surplus, if they make no sense for the planned systems. Hindsight would have planned better to save some lines that we have lost, but many of these links are now gone, and are prohibitively costly to restore.

Napa (not owned by SMART and largely intact) may be the exception for some service restoration in the future. This is when gas gets back up to $5 a gallon or more, and folks still want the tourists to come, visit, drink wine, spend money, and keep people employed? Direct connections to the ferries to the City or East Bay would probably be essential for something like that to succeed, as other than a quaint tourist operation, though.